The Sunshine Index

How much is an hour of sunlight worth? Calculating solar bang for the buck

By

Sanette Tanaka

Nov. 22, 2012 7:54 p.m. ET

Sun-Drenched Getaways

The Mustique Company

Looking for a ray of sunshine in the depths of winter? Head to Mustique, a tiny 1-mile-by-3-mile island in the sunny Caribbean. But it will cost you—$3,338.66 per hour, to be exact.

How much is an hour of sunlight worth? Sanette Tanaka on The News Hub calculates the solar bang for the buck in a number of sunshine-friendly locations. Photo: Moustique Co.

To find out where homeowners get the most solar bang for their buck, real-estate consulting firm Knight Frank looked at 14 warm-weather vacation spots around the world. Using the average hours of sunlight per day and the average house price for a four-bedroom property in a prime real-estate location, Knight Frank arrived at the price for an hour of sunshine, averaged over a year.

The Charge of the Light Brigade: Three for Sale

ENLARGE

$13.5 million: Coconut Grove, Fla. 6,106-square-foot home This six-bedroom, 6½-bathroom classic Mediterranean home comes fully furnished, from the Bösendorfer grand piano to flat-screen televisions. The home comes with a detached guest house, pool and pagoda. There's even a koi pond out front. Listed with Audrey Ross of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors.
Audrey Ross/Miami Real Estate

ENLARGE

$12.45 million Lurin, St. Barts 6,000-square-foot home This four-bedroom, 4½-bathroom traditional Caribbean-style home is situated up in the hills with views of St. Jean beach. Listed with St. Barth Properties Sotheby's International Realty.
St. Barth Properties Sotheby's International Realty

Mustique topped the list in cost per hour of sun, with St. Barts and the British Virgin Islands, also in the Caribbean, coming in at Nos. 2 and 3. Mauritius, an island located off the southeastern coast of Africa, came next.

Caribbean islands ranked high on the list, in part because there's less land to develop, which drives property prices higher, says Paddy Dring, head of the international residential department for Knight Frank.

Twenty-three years ago, Lynda Marks, her husband and six children boarded a plane in Chicago for their journey to Mustique. Upon arrival, she was handed a rum punch while taking in the 360-degree view of the beaches and ocean. Ms. Marks was hooked. Now, she travels there about four times a year.

"To leave the grayness behind and see that blue sky and those pristine beaches, it's just stunning. That's when the sun really strikes you," she says.

Mustique has about 100 villas on the island, 74 of which are available for rent, says Gordon Overing, villa-services manager for the Mustique Company Ltd., a quasigovernmental organization that manages operations on the island.

ENLARGE

A typical three-bedroom villa complete with staff runs from $14,000 to $18,000 per week during peak seasons, he adds. Five- or six-bedroom villas can cost more than $25,000 per week.

In the U.S., Florida is a go-to spot to beat the winter blues, ranking No. 12 in price on Knight Frank's list at $283.99 per hour of sunshine.

Audrey Ross, a real-estate broker in South Florida, says many of her clients are looking for properties that let in a lot of natural light. "Brighter is better," she says.

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